Ryanair is to open 8 new routes from Shannon.
The airline says the move will support 300 new on site jobs and deliver an extra 300,000 passengers.
The routes will go to Berlin, Faro, Fuerteventura, Krakow, Munich, Nice, Paris and Warsaw from April of next year .
Ryanair says today's announcement is in direct response to the Government's decision to scrap the €3 travel tax.
Ryanair is in continuing discussions with the four other main Irish airports – Cork, Dublin, Kerry and Knock – to finalise its growth plans for summer 2014 and hopes to announce more route and frequency growth from Ireland in the coming weeks.
Michael Cawley of Ryanair said:
“Ryanair is pleased to announce 8 new routes and increased frequency on the Stansted route from Shannon in April 2014, which will deliver 300,000 additional passengers p.a. and support 300 new on-site jobs at Shannon. This growth is in direct response to the Government’s welcome decision to scrap the €3 air travel tax from April 2014.
The scrapping of the air travel tax will help restore Ireland’s competitiveness and attractiveness to overseas visitors from the UK and Continental Europe in particular. Having met with all five of the main Irish airports, we hope to announce further new route and traffic growth plans over the coming weeks.”
Shannon Airport CEO, Neil Pakey said:
“We are delighted that Ryanair have shown real commitment to the Shannon Region in announcing 8 new European routes for 2014, in addition to the 10 already served from Shannon. The timing of this announcement couldn’t be better for inbound visitors in particular, given the focus next year on the Wild Atlantic Way and on Limerick as the City of Culture.”
